


Sentinel

by RedLeaderfic



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Devotion, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, Worship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5998486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLeaderfic/pseuds/RedLeaderfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke knows where he belongs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sentinel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fingalsanteater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fingalsanteater/gifts).



> Set immediately after the Undertaker kidnapping. Happy Chocolate Box day!

Bray never has them sleep in the same place as the others. He always directs them someplace isolated, somewhere that would be their own. He told Luke once Abigail would prepare these places for them, that he would see them when the day drew to a close like she had placed a map in front of his eyes. That had been the worst part of those long, terrible months of exile, watching Bray disappear to his sanctuaries where he couldn’t follow, that he had to close his eyes and try to sleep surrounded by enemies. The beds had always been too soft and the rooms too warm, half the time Luke would choose to sleep in the car rather than lie awake all night.

Luke tightens his hands around the steering wheel and pushes those thoughts away. Those days are over, his family is together again. Together and one stronger, even; Luke watches Erick and Braun finish wrapping cable around the trunk to fully secure their quarry. Larger than what they’d expected to be spiriting away, but they’d managed. Luke feels the car rock as Erick and Braun squeeze into the backseat and Bray stirs for the first time since Luke had helped him into the passenger seat. “Is the cargo secure?”

“Nothing will open that trunk before we’re ready,” Braun answers, boastful. Luke catches Erick give a sideways glance at that; Erick had pulled Luke aside just the day before and asked what he thought of their new brother. He still doesn’t have an answer. Bray rejoices in him and Luke knows that will have to be answer enough.

Bray touches Luke on his shoulder, eyes still closed. “Drive. They’ll be looking for us by now.”

They drive for nearly two hours, far longer than normal. It would alarm Luke if he didn’t know where they were going; Bray had sent him to prepare this site personally for the rite to come. He wonders if anything will have to be altered now, if the preparation he did are enough. 

Luke banishes those thoughts, too. Bray will tell him what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. Repeating that mantra keeps the vigilance at bay, keeps his mind on the road instead of the unconscious form in their trunk. Bray sighs when Luke pulls up to the isolated house, responding to a presence Luke can’t feel. “I thought it would take longer,” he murmurs, cracking his eyes open to look at Luke. “You made good time.”

Luke feels himself flush at the praise, especially for such a commonplace thing, and gets out of the car to supervise the delicate unloading process. He’s glad in that moment for Braun’s presence; three hundred pounds of dead weight would normally be difficult for him and Erick but Braun can shoulder the Undertaker almost by himself. Whatever his powers Undertaker should have known this day would come ever since Wrestlemania. Bray’s vengeance may be delayed but when it comes it is swift and merciless. He should have known the man who brought him out of death would return him to it someday.

Luke pulls himself away from the very satisfying scene, glancing down the road to ensure they weren’t followed. Erick catches his eye, indicating they’re ready; Luke crowds him close, enough to make him back up a step. “The way we spoke about.” Erick nods and Luke backs off, glancing at Braun’s back. _And watch him, too._ Erick nods his understanding again; this is an important first test for Braun, one he must not fail. Luke is so relieved to have Erick back among them he wishes there were words to express it.

Not the least because Erick’s presence means he can focus on more important things; once he knows the operation is well under way he opens the passenger door and crouches beside it. Luke can see the battle with Reigns has marked Bray, weariness shakes his hands as he levers himself out of the car and he braces against doorframe for a few long seconds. He accepts Luke’s hand at his back when he finally stands, going so far as to lean against Luke’s arm as they make their way to the house.

The building is small but solidly built. Someone wealthy had lived here once – a rich man’s play house, perhaps, where he would retreat from his empty life when it pressed him too roughly. Those days were long ago; now the windows are boarded and the electricity cut. Candles burn as Luke opens the front door, they always are when they arrive at these hidden places. Bray directs him up a narrow staircase and into a small, Spartan room with only a narrow bad and cracked window to adorn it. Luke immediately feels relief wash over him, the outside world retreating far away. 

Luke gets to ease Bray out of his boots and vest before Bray waves him aside, too exhausted even to sit anymore. Luke steps back to let Bray settle on the bed, stiffness already making movement visibly painful. Luke struggles with the impulse to get back in the car, race back to the hotel and beat Roman Reigns to death with the first blunt instrument that falls into his hands.

“It’s not the time for that,” Bray says, shaming Luke out of the fantasy.

“How did you know what I was---“

“It’s what you’re always thinking.”

It takes a few seconds before Luke can bring himself to look directly at Bray again. He waits for a dismissal but it doesn’t come; finally he settles against the wall next to the bed’s iron headboard, closing his eyes and immersing himself in the sound of Bray’s breathing.

“There’s been a place of your own prepared for you, you know.” 

That isn’t quite a dismissal either and Luke struggles to with how to respond. Of course Bray will be able to contact him if he’s needed, he’s never had difficulty with that before. The perimeter is secure. The containment will hold, even if what they’re securing isn’t exactly what he’s expected. 

“This will work, Luke. There won’t be any breaches tonight.”

Sometimes Luke loses track of whether he’s said things out loud or only thought them, Bray is so good at guessing his mind. “How are you sure?”

“Because I had you make the arrangements.” Bray stretches, wincing when something pains him, then falls silent. “Aren’t you going to ask me what my plan is now?”

Luke blinks, trying to understand the question. “No.”

Bray’s quiet again for a few moments. “Do you truly never doubt me? Even after watching me fail with your own eyes?”

The surge of panic at even being asked that is paralyzing. Luke doesn’t understand the emotion in Bray’s voice or what he must have done to be asked such a thing. “Never. Not once.”

Bray rolls over and stares into Luke’s eyes for what feels like years, long enough for Luke’s heart to all but bruise itself pounding against his breastbone. Then Bray tosses Luke his pillow, laughing softly to himself as he rolls back over. “Sleep where you like. I don’t know why I try to encourage you otherwise.”

After a few seconds Luke creeps forward and sits against the side of the bed, placing himself between Bray and the door. He hears the bed creak as Bray shifts again, then another soft laugh. “Or do that,” Bray says, kissing him on the head, like a benediction. The contact surges through Luke and it’s few seconds before he can breathe. “Keep my monsters at bay for me.”

Luke nods and listens as Bray’s breathing grows deep and even. When he’s sure Bray asleep he eases the pillow back under his head. Luke is fine without it and Bray needs the rest. Bray stirs without waking, one hand slipping off the edge of the bed, and Luke kisses Bray's scraped knuckles before placing his hand back on the mattress.

Bray’s sleep is untroubled the rest of the night and Luke counts each of his breaths until the sunrise.


End file.
